2 Timothy 3:5

5 and will act as if they serve God but will not have his power. Stay away from those people.

2 Timothy 3:5 Meaning and Commentary

2 Timothy 3:5

Having a form of godliness
Either a mere external show of religion, pretending great piety and holiness, being outwardly righteous before men, having the mask and visor of godliness; or else a plan of doctrine, a form of sound words, a scheme of truths, which men may have without partaking of the grace of God; and which, with respect to the doctrine of the Trinity, the church of Rome has; or else the Scriptures of truth, which the members of that church have, and profess to hold to, maintain and preserve; and which contains doctrines according to godliness, and tend to a godly life and godly edification:

but denying the power thereof;
though in words they profess religion and godliness, the fear of God, and the pure worship of him, yet in works they deny all; and though they may have a set of notions in their heads, yet they feel nothing of the power of them on their hearts; and are strangers to experimental religion, and powerful godliness: or though they profess the Scriptures to be the word of God, yet they deny the use, the power, and efficacy of them; they deny the use of them to the laity, and affirm that they are not a sufficient rule of faith and practice, without their unwritten traditions; and that they are not able to make men wise, or give them a true knowledge of what is to be believed and done, without them; and that the sense of them is not to be understood by private men, but depends upon the infallible judgment of the church or pope:

from such turn away;
have no fellowship with them, depart from their communion, withdraw from them, and come out from among them: this passage sufficiently justifies the reformed churches in their separation from the church of Rome.

2 Timothy 3:5 In-Context

3 They will not love others, will refuse to forgive, will gossip, and will not control themselves. They will be cruel, will hate what is good,

4 will turn against their friends, and will do foolish things without thinking. They will be conceited, will love pleasure instead of God,

5 and will act as if they serve God but will not have his power. Stay away from those people.

6 Some of them go into homes and get control of silly women who are full of sin and are led by many evil desires.

7 These women are always learning new teachings, but they are never able to understand the truth fully.